The Denver metro area could become a central hub for space transportation. That is, if the FAA accepts the bid to house Spaceport Colorado at the Front Range Airport.
Spaceport Colorado, the nation's main hub for commercial space transportation and research, has announced it has placed a bid to make the Front Range Airport in Adams County its home. But until things are set in place, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must process the bid, in what will be an 180-day review with an end date of August 19. The initial plans are to have the hub be built just out of reach of the airport, about a mile and a half from the grounds. Spaceport Colorado hopes to have at least one flight per week, if operations move forward as planned.
With Adams County being Colorado's fifth largest county -- a population of 500,000 residents -- it doesn't come as a surprise that it was chosen for the bid. In fact, David Ruppel, airport director at Front Range Airport, told Denver7, "There is a lot of open space, so that's a critical piece, that's one of the reasons we can do it here."
Not only is there a ton of space to house the spaceport, but the entire organization will be able to bring in new jobs for the surrounding community.
"Spaceports, you've seen ten of them pop up around the country. It's now time for Colorado to have one to make sure that we are keeping all these aerospace jobs in Colorado, and that the future of space travel may originate here," said Adams County Director of Communications Jim Siedlecki.
You can read more information about Spaceport Colorado and the bid by visiting its website.
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